May 16, 2014

GGC 5, AUM 1

Saturday's LIVE Championship Free Video

The third-seeded Georgia Gwinnett men's tennis team earned a spot in Saturday's 2014 NAIA Men's Tennis National Championship final by defeating second-seeded Auburn Montgomery (Ala.) by a 5-1 score in the tournament semifinals Friday at the Mobile Tennis Center in Mobile, Ala.

Saturday's 1 p.m. CT finale will pit the Grizzlies against top-seeded and defending national champion Embry-Riddle (Fla.), as both the men's and women's championships will be settled between the same two schools.

It will be Georgia Gwinnett College's first-ever shots at a national title in any sport.

Friday, the Grizzlies (20-0) earned an early 2-1 lead over the Warhawks (24-4) in doubles play, then captured the first three singles matches in straight sets for the victory.

It was all over when Mark Verryth finished a 6-1, 6-3 victory over AUM's Nicolas Pinones-Haltenhoff at number one singles.

Verryth, Bruno Tiberti, Matias Hatem and Connor Clements combined for all of the Grizzlies' points in singles and doubles.

The Grizzlies' first doubles win came on the third line with Hatem and Clements' 8-2 score. Next, GGC went up 2-0 as Verryth and Tiberti won, 8-3. AUM captured its lone point of the match at first doubles, 8-4.

Georgia Gwinnett took control of the match during singles play, quickly going up one set on each of the first three courts.

Tiberti's 6-2, 6-2 win at number two gave GGC a 3-1 edge, then Hatem's 6-0, 6-2 win made it 4-1.

The remaining matches on the fourth, fifth and sixth lines, which all appeared headed for a third set, were halted when Verryth earned his two-set victory on court one.

The Grizzlies will now face a 21-3 Eagles squad in Saturday's championship in the first-ever meeting between the teams. ERAU knocked out fourth-seeded Vanguard (Calif.), 5-1, in Friday's other semifinal.

The NAIA will provide live video coverage of tomorrow's championship match, available here.